CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION - Reduplication

A short grammar sketch of Bikol
'swim' or 'shiver, tremble' and the /iu�/-diphthong is written when it occurs in
an open syllable, as in 'snare, spring trap'. In a word-final closed syllable it is spelled
, as in 'bend (a limb)', and in a word-medial closed syllable , as in
'honeybee' (cf. Mintz 2004: 11).
No strict orthographical regulations exist for the affricates either. I use the spelling
for /�/ as in [�a] 'he/she' or [�am] 'nine' and for /t�/ as in
[kot�e] 'car', following the most common way, based on the Tagalog orthography.
/N/ is spelled , as for example in [�unyan] 'now, today' or
[ba�gi] 'evening, night'.
Full reduplication is often written with a hyphen (for example in "Basa-basa an buhok
mo; ..." 43 'Your hair is soaking wet ...' or the reduplication in "... pinangat na maharang-
harang ..." 44 '... the Pinangat 45 which is a little bit pungent ...'). This is also the way I represent
full reduplication in this work. But there is also much of variation in this respect. Sometimes
reduplicated forms are represented as one word (for example "An magayagayang aldaw ...." 46
'The very pleasant day ...'), sometimes as two words (for example "...kinonot na naglalana
lana" 47 'in very creamy coconut milk'). Different spellings are found even within one text by
one writer. Some writers also separate other affixes by a hyphen, others do not use the symbol
at all. Partial reduplication and Curu-reduplication are never marked with a hyphen in my
written corpus.
For a more detailed description and an explanation of the historical changes of orthography
cf. Lobel and Tria (2000: 3-5), Mintz (2004: 4-9).
2.4 Syntax
At a syntactic level different types of phrases in Bikol can be easily distinguished from each
other because they can be identified unambiguously by their specific markers and/or their
position: predicate (function of predication), predicate base and other arguments or adjuncts
43 From corpus [agom].
44 From corpus [r-d: kaon].
45 Pinangat is a typical Bikol vegetable dish ("Taro leaf wraps"), prepared with coconut milk.
46 From corpus [pakipagmootan].
47 From corpus [r-d: kaon].
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